Connie Klema saw opportunity in a small, triangular plot of land in Italian Village where she is planning three houses that will take advantage of a vertical design to create room for living space and a garage.

Connie Klema has worked in the Short North for more than 20 years, both in real estate and then as a lawyer working on zoning and other real estate issues.

Her toughest case started in 2001 when she saw a property catty-corner from her home in Italian Village getting carved up to allow the widening of Interstate 670.

“No one thought the sliver could get developed,” Klema said of the property. “I negotiated with the neighbor to take the strip. I wanted to do something with it.”

Many wondered if a 0.1-acre, wedge-shaped property could handle development of any sort, but Klema has persisted – and the results are rising at the intersection of Kerr and East Russell streets, in plain view of commuters traveling along I-670.

“No one thought anything could fit there,” Klema said. “But I said, ‘Once we get it up, people will understand.’ ”

Roof with a view

Klema initially proposed a four-story project on the former site of a neighborhood grocery store with commercial use on the ground floor and three 2,000-square-foot condominiums on top. That plan never got built, however, a victim of the slowdown in the housing market and a financial market no longer willing to lend on speculative condos.

Klema said she then went to Short North architect Frank Elmer of the nearby Lincoln Street Studio design firm with her ideas. His solution? Build three, three-level homes with rooftop sun decks.

“That was the trick to Frank’s idea,” Klema said, “splitting (the lot) up.”

Financing of an unconventional, speculative house remained an issue with lenders, so Klema asked legal client Al Coughlin Jr. of the Coughlin Automotive Group to become a partner in the deal.

Construction on the first 1,600-square-foot home began a year ago and needs just a railing installed before the city grants an occupancy permit.

“I have a lot of people curious and dazzled by it,” Klema said. “It’s ready to go.”

A garage designed to handle a two-car mechanical lift system takes up much of the ground level. The main living area complete with kitchen is on the second floor, with a master bedroom, full bathroom and small office or walk-in closet on the top floor. The second and third levels each have double French doors where one can look at the downtown skyline with cars and trucks rolling by below.

“This is the neighborhood to do this kind of stuff,” Klema said.

Klema is listing the home for $385,000 and is optimistic it will get serious lookers, and not just I-670 gawkers, now that it’s built. Two more homes of 2,400 and 2,600 square feet are designed and ready to go next door.

Klema, who renovated properties for several years in the Short North until 1996, now is working on renovating an old car repair shop and warehouse she bought in June at 52 Brickell St. into condos.

“I think the Short North is remarkable,” she said.

“There’s only so much space here,” she said. “If you’re creative, sometimes you can find a lot and figure it out.”

Scouting out sites

It turns out Klema has some company in developing on odd-shaped, leftover land along the section of I-670 that cuts across the downtown and the Short North.

Developer and investor Stelios Giannopoulos of Giannopoulos Properties just received clearance from the Victorian Village Commission to build on a 0.2-acre site on West Poplar Avenue behind the Cap at Union Station over I-670 on High Street. Giannopoulos plans a three-story project anchored with commercial office or retail on the ground floor and three apartments on each of the top two floors.

“It will be a nice building with a view of downtown,” Giannopoulos said. Because of the freeway, “nothing can block that view in the future.”

Giannopoulos has owned the property, which has served as surface parking for the North High commercial corridor, for 10 years. But development of the cap and the need to work around construction restrictions from the Ohio Department of Transportation placed on projects so close to the highway delayed development.

Giannopoulos said construction could begin next year after the city completes utility work in the area serving his site and developer Pizzuti Cos.’ office building and public parking garage around the corner on North High.

“Now is the right time,” he said.

Brian R. Ball covers commercial real estate and development for Columbus Business First.

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